Ruse on the Loose: Rockway teen wins acting honor at state competition

William Taitel, 16, of Rockaway, is winner of best actor on a scene from Speech and Theater Association of New Jersey. He was photographed at Aikido Center of Dover, where his mother, Dr. Janice Taitel, is a founder and instructor.(Photo: Karen Mancinelli/Special to NJ Press Media)Buy Photo

Playing Tom Joad in a scene from The Grapes of Wrath, Taitel was chosen as the Best Actor in a Scene winner at the 2015 Speech and Theatre Association of New Jersey competition held January 31 at Rutgers University.

"It was crazy. I was extremely excited. My soul left my body," Taitel said with a laugh. "It felt really awesome when we all got up there and got first place for best scene. I can't believe it myself."

Besides Taitels' best actor win, the entire theatre company from Morris Hills High School added a first place award in the Scene Competition for "The Grapes of Wrath." Taitel also added a sixth place award, teaming with Eduardo Delgado in the Dramatic Pairs competition. The duo did a scene between Kev and Musa from "Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo" by Rajiv Joseph.

"We did the scene where Kev brings in his fatigues and he gets changed in a translator's office and we have a whole little sort of scene there," said Taitel, 16, of Rockaway. "You get to run away for a little bit. You get to live lives you would probably never live."

For their performance of John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath," Morris Hills' High School's cast of Taitel, Delgado, Jorge Villarreol, Abeba Issacc, Jamie North, Connor Graham and Ryan Spada were awarded first place for Scene Competition.

Other Scarlet Knight thespian award winners were Villarreol with a fourth place in Dramatic Monologue; Madi O'Shea and Villarreol with a fifth place in Dramatic Pairs; Makenzie Schaefer and Spada with a sixth place in Comedy Pairs; and Villarreol won the $500 Senior Scholarship.

First place winners will receive their medals before performing at the 2015 New Jersey Governor's Awards in Trenton in May.

Taitel was first bitten by the acting bug during eighth grade summer camp when he was asked to perform in some "little short films. I always liked making up tall tales and stuff," said Taitel, who enjoys drawing his own comics.

"I started just really liking acting. During my sophomore year that was kind of it. I signed up for the musical 'Annie' and got in. It was like wow, this is something I can actually do and enjoy. I was just in the ensemble and didn't really have many lines. But it was really fun and I've been with the theatre program and with acting ever since."

Morris Hills High School is presenting "The Addams Family" at 7 p.m. on March 19, 20 and 21 in the high school's auditorium. Directed by English teacher Amy Shera, Villarroel will play patriarch Gomez and senior Samantha Rizzuto will perform as Morticia, the true head of the Addams family. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for seniors and students. For more information, call the high school at 973-664-2309. Morris Hills High School is located at 520 W. Main Street in Rockaway.

"I'm Fester. I think it's the best part of the whole play," said Taitel, who prefers musical theatre. "You can tell by the crazy songs and stuff like that. It's a lot of fun."

After his turn as Uncle Fester, Taitel is excited to be joining the rest of the cast from "The Grapes of Wrath" at the Governor's Awards.

"Before I started doing theatre in high school, I was really meek and very drawn back. Theatre opened me up a whole lot. It made me a much more confident person. The people in it did something that I just thought was never going to happen," Taitel said.

"I rebelled against the whole idea before I met anyone there. I really had no goal for the future. I just kind of thought I'd wander until I died. And then this started happening and now I want to do something with my life. I guess it's given me purpose."

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